Janet Carter, was a 59 years old professional with a solid background in social services at senior management level for 22 years. She came to the BACK TO WORK 50+ program when she was a few months unemployed. She was from the time of hard copies of resumes. When she first started in the job market 22 years ago, people did not need technology to search for jobs. Mrs. Carter was applying to management-level jobs with a 3-page resume and little knowledge about how the job market had changed in the last few decades. “I did not know anything about LinkedIn, or about keywords needed in resumes, or that I had to customize my cover letter for every application”, she says. All her friends had jobs and an established life, so she had no support. In the program, she learned to build a more functional resume according to the positions she was applying for. She made friends and updated her interview skills. In addition, Ms. Carter obtained the support she needed at the most difficult time. Her coach called her before and after each interview and helped her to be patient, to be positive, and to have courage. The support that she received helped her get her confidence back. Ms. Carter had worked for the State of Florida and only needed to work 1 year to qualify for the retirement program of the state. “learning that I only need 1 year changed my whole mentality about job-searching” she says. With our help, she learned to target her job. She obtained her ideal job at the Broward County Department of Health “Now that I got this job I am getting calls from many other companies”. Ms. Carter is happy in her new position, she visited our office to inspire a new group with her story and she taught us a valuable lesson: “We create tomorrow by what we dream today”.
